I’m wondering if getting water to the magical 6.5 is as tough as it seems for me. I just bought a digital Ph pen, I have the Ph up and down solutions. So what do I need some kind of voodoo doll now? I wanted to get about a gallon of water ready. Tested it and got say 7.5. I add about 2 drops of ph down and test again. I get say 5.9. So I add a drop of ph up. Test again and get oh say 6.9. Add less than a drop of ph down and get 6.8-6.7 ish. Another partial drop of ph down. Test and get 6.2. You see this could go on forever. So should I just stop and take anything in the 6 range?
Thanks
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First, you never want to add Ph up and Down to the same gallon of water. If you mess it up then dump it out and start over. It can be a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it you can eyeball it very easily. Add one drop at a time when trying to adjust plain water because there’s nothing to buffer the Ph. If trying to adjust nutrient water you’ll need much more than a drop or two.
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I can live with that advice. I appreciate it. So am i in trouble now that I’ve used water that has a few drops of ph up and down in it? Somewhere in the back of my mind I didn’t like adding more and more of something and not getting anywhere.
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No, you’ll be ok, just don’t do it again. It’s not a good practice.
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If it’s to low had more water till you hit your target required. Give it a stire check levels again.
Always start of with measured nutrients for required amount of water.
Then check ph levels… then add UP or DOWN if required. 6.2 is the magic number!! Hope his helps 
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Uh, been there too many times myself. 
in my Veg room, under flrescents, I like to keep my Ph between 5.8 and 6 with the temperature around 86 to 90. In my Flowering room, under both HPS and LEDs, I like to keep my Ph around 6.3 to 6.5 with the temperature a little colder, gradually cooling the room down from around 85 to like 77 to imitate fall. After using the same watering filter and measuring utensils for a few grows, I guess I finally got the hang of, or the feel for, how much Ph up or down I’d need and was able to get pretty close to my desired range a little easier. I said close enough on numerous occasions but I’ve heard that too much of a sudden change in Ph can cause stress so I try to be on point; probably more so during transitioning from veg to bloom and the final weeks up to flushing. Striving for the Perfect Crop. It’s not rocket science; it’s a sweet blessing when you get it tho’
Good luck,
BikerParalegal
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@Lightbender We need more info to help you out. What water source are you starting with? RO, tap water, rain water, carbon filtered water? IF your using RO then your TDS needs to be over 100PPM to allow the meter to read pH. Also temperature affects the pH as well so you may need to adjust your readings for temperature. I usually try to mix up batches of 5gals at a time which makes it easier to hit the sweet spot too. I’m in soil soil im shooting for 6.5 pH. Which growing medium are you using?
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Its a bit of a challenge to me as well! And thanks @raustin i did not know that… my pH down always drops it by 3 full digits almost. But will try to do better
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@hangthebanksters. That particular time was with rain water. It just happened to start raining so I thought I’d try my ph meter for the first time (brand new and calibrated). Oh and as a side note I also have a new tds meter, it showed 0012. So that’s probably the issue according to what you mentioned in your post. So I appreciate learning that. Just learning so these tips are setting my mind at ease.
I’m growing in soil by the way.
Why can’t you use both ph up and down in the same water?? I’ve been doing this. 
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The buffers fight each other. If you put too much pH down, just dilute with h20 until it’s back up to where you want it. If you use too much pH up, it’s best to just start over.
For anybody interested, here is a link to a Cornell University pdf about correcting & adjusting pH in container media. Truly a necessary read. When you click on it, you’ll be asked if you want to download the pdf. Yes. Yes, you do. 
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.greenhouse.cornell.edu/crops/factsheets/pHarticl.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjqobX8n5feAhVmqoMKHWEQAg0QFjAOegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw3ZIOlhppqPu-at2h4V2euj
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Read what @blackthumbbetty posted. It explains perfectly. It’s everything you ever wanted to know about Ph, and then some.
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If anyone is really want to own the hydropic thing you should have 2 PH meter’s then you can fast check without calibrating it "Just had to retire a Bluelab pen that would lose calibration the first day and still have a “I’ve been calibrated checkmark on the screen” 